Behind the numbers: Pokes hammer SJSU, 111-80

LAS VEGAS -- How was that for a balanced scoring attack?

Four Cowboys finished in double figures Wednesday as Wyoming rolled to a 111-80 victory over San Jose State in the opening round of the Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas.

See for yourself:

The Pokes will take on top-seeded San Diego State Thursday at 1 p.m. inside the Thomas and Mack Center.

Get our free mobile app

Before we move on to the Aztecs, let's look back at a record-breaking day for Jeff Linder's Cowboys:

111

The last time a UW basketball team scored more than 110 points in a game, it lost. That was a 119-114 setback against New Mexico in Laramie on Feb. 20, 2018. Wyoming's 111-point outburst Wednesday is the third-highest mark in Mountain West Tournament history. The other came when UNLV topped the Lobos 120-117 back in 2002. The last time UW won a game when it scored 111 points or more was back in 2009. That was a 120-73 victory over Peru State College. Afam Muojeke led all scorers with 26. Speaking of leading scorers ...

32

Graham Ike today became the freshman single-game scoring leader in league tournament history. The rookie from Colorado hit 12 of his 14 shots and went 8-of-10 from the free throw line. Ike netted 21 first-half points against the Spartans, tying the best single-half mark by a Cowboy with Hayden Dalton (Cornell-2016). He had never scored more than 18 in a game. His 32-point day for the day is the best for a Cowboy freshman since UW joined the Mountain West back in 1998.

31

That's how many points the Pokes won by today. That's tied for the second largest margin of victory in tourney history. Air Force also topped SJSU by 31 back in 2019. San Diego State, the Cowboys quarterfinal opponent, beat Utah State by 34 in 2014.

18

That's how many times Wyoming has beaten the Spartans in the 20 all-time meetings between the two schools.

5

That's the amount of times the Cowboys have hit the 50-point mark in a half this season. Wyoming had 59 today. They scored that exact number back in late January against Nevada. UW won that one, 93-88. That is also the most in a first half in tournament history.

64.7

That's the percentage of UW shots that went through the basket today in the first half. That's the Cowboys' best mark since hitting 65.2 against Akron back in 2007. Wyoming's second best shooting day of 2020-21 came in the regular-season finale against UNLV. That was 57%

37:30

That's how much of today's 40-minute contest was led by the Cowboys.

52

That's how many of those 111 points today came in the paint. That has plenty to do with Ike's big day, but Hunter Maldonado also scored 17, most of which came down low.

15-6-10-7

Those are Marcus Williams' numbers against SJSU. In the final two regular season games, the newly crowned Mountain West Freshman of the Year scored just eight total points. Today, he landed 15 to go along with six rebounds and 10 assists. The Texas product also finished with seven steals on the afternoon. Not a bad day at the office for the Pokes' point guard.

4

Wyoming turned the ball over that many times today.

11

That's how many triples UW splashed against SJSU. Xavier DuSell led the way in that category, connecting on 5-of-7 shots from behind the arc. Drake Jeffries and Hunter Thompson both hit a pair and Kwane Marble and Kenny Foster each hit one.

2

That's how many minutes the Big Shamrock, Eoin Nelson, played today. That was his first action since suffering an Achilles injury in practice on New Year's Day. Wyoming, according to Linder, has its full compliment of players for Thursday's game against San Diego State. Speaking of those Aztecs.

19

The Associated Press has Brian Dutcher's team ranked No. 19 in the nation. SDSU has won 11 straight and handled the Cowboys easily in both regular-season contests.

2015

The last time these two programs met in Sin City, Wyoming pulled off the 45-43 upset over the Aztecs and clinched a berth in the NCAA Tournament with the school's first MW Tourney title. Larry Nance led the Cowboys with 14 points and Josh Adams chipped in with 10 as the UW faithful stormed the court.